Nashville -- Vanderbilt women's basketball head coach coach Melanie Balcomb announced on Wednesday morning the signing of Rachel Bell to a National Letter of Intent to play for the Commodores. Bell joins Paris Kea as the second member of the highly-regarded 2014 recruiting class.

Bell, a 5-foot-10 combo guard, is rated the No. 37 overall player by Blue Star Report. As a junior, Bell averaged 20.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season at nearby Creek Wood High, helping the team post a 27-5 record in 2012-13.

"Rachel is one of the best players in the state of Tennessee, and obviously, we are very excited she chose to stay home and help us do something special in Nashville," Balcomb said.

Under the direction of Coach Tom Mullinicks, Bell and her teammates won the district championship and advanced to the AA Sub-State "Sweet Sixteen" last season. She has been named to the All-State and All-District teams, along with being a finalist for Class AA TSSAA Miss Basketball.

Bell has also enjoyed individual and team success on the summer circuit while playing for Coach Tom Insell and national power Tennessee Flight.

Bell said she is delighted at the chance to play for her home-state Commodores.

"I am beyond excited," she said."The SEC is the best women's basketball conference (in the nation) and I'm honored to be a part of such a great program at Vanderbilt. The future is looking bright for the Vanderbilt Commodores. Anchor down!"

BALCOMB SAYS : "Rachel is one of the most athletic combo guards we have signed at Vanderbilt. She has a scorer's mentality that I love, and she can play multiple positions on the perimeter. She is capable of scoring in a variety of ways, but I also believe her toughness, size and length will allow her to be a very good defender at this level."

STRAIGHT FROM RACHEL: (Why she chose Vanderbilt) "The education at Vanderbilt is phenomenal. The biggest thing that led me to Vanderbilt is the incredible coaching staff and their amazing players; I just love all of them. I am absolutely certain the Vanderbilt coaching staff can help me become the best I can be and then playing against SEC high caliber players will help me improve as well."